AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What do you want to know?”
I pull the glass to my lips and take a drink, watching her over the rim of my glass.
“How about, where did you grow up? How many siblings do you have? Did you have a pet parakeet that I can whip out as Ryker trivia in case it seems like the immigration officer might be on to us? That sort of thing.”
Her question has me entertained and I like this side of her… making a joke about a very serious thing we have to deal with tomorrow.
“You’re cheating. That was more than one question,” I say, setting my beer down on the ledge of the building.
“I’ll answer the same question after you. Only, I didn’t have a parakeet. But we did have a Boston Terrier when I was a kid named Bruno.”
“A dog person? That tells me a lot about you,” I say, though I’m full of shit.
I couldn’t tell you the difference between a dog person, a cat person, or those people who buy miniature ponies and let them live in their houses. The way I see it, people are just people.
She takes a sip of her beer and stares at me, letting me know that she’s waiting for my answer.
“Let’s see… I grew up in a town outside of Vancouver. I have two older brothers, Camden and Everett, and then a younger brother and sister… Austin and Harper—”
“That’s a big family. Your parents must have been busy with five of you,” she says.
“They were, but they loved it. I come from a long line of hockey players. My grandfather is a three-time Stanley Cup champion and my father coached one of the most prestigious college hockey teams in Canada for most of my life. Then he coached for the Vancouver Vikings NHL team at the end of his career. With five of us and my dad, we had a full team so we’d play in city leagues and wipe the ice with them.”
“Your little sister played too?”
Juliet hasn’t met my sister yet, but when she does, she won’t be surprised.
“Harper’s five foot two and her leg is probably no bigger than the circumference of my biceps, but she can be as mean as a rattlesnake if you underestimate her.”
Juliet laughs. “Well, no wonder if your brothers are all as big as you. It’s survival of the fittest out there in the wild.”
I think about my sister and what it was probably like for her growing up with four older brothers.
“I guess you’re right about that.”
She has a point. That’s probably what happens to a girl when she’s raised by a household of boys.
“My mom is sweeter than maple syrup and never could get control over us… she had a hard enough time just containing us. And my father was the ringleader of our crazy circus.”
“Sounds like you had a great childhood,” she says.
“I did.”
“And your parents are still married? You mentioned they’ve had a thirty-year run."
I didn’t want to bring this up now, but she’s right. She should know it all.
I reach back and rub the back of my neck. This conversation never seems to get easier to talk about. “My dad passed away a few years ago.”
“Oh my God,” Juliet steps forward and puts her left hand on my other bicep and I like the feeling of her touch. It’s oddly familiar, though it has no reason to be. “I did not know. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks,” I say back because what else do you say in a conversation like this? “It came out of nowhere. He had a heart attack in the Vikings weight room while with the team.”
My hand releases the back of my neck and falls to my side. Juliet puts her left hand on my other bicep and steps closer. She doesn’t say anything, she just listens.
I don’t like talking about my dad passing and how I hadn’t seen him in over a year since it seemed our schedules never matched up, besides the one game the Hawkeyes and the Vikings played against each other.
Guilt from not seeing him more, even all the years before always set in when I talk about my dad. I missed so much and now I don’t get those years back.
